An old Latin phrase states that "Those whom God wants to destroy, He first deprives of their senses” - "Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat". This saying was used in reference to the Roman god Jupiter but was soon adopted by Christians for their God. If there is an example of how wise is this saying, one has only to review the recent decision taken by both political parties that backed repealing the Vilification Law. A case in point is the incident of the damage to the Koran at Mater Dei hospital that exposed the great political hypocrisy and double standards of our two main parties.
It is useless for the Nationalist Party to keep on declaring that it opposed the removal of vilification from our Criminal Code. What we have witnessed in Parliament is purely a mise-en-scène. Conveniently, the PN voted against the law in the first stage of its reading but then it did not ask for a division during the most crucial stage of the third reading. This means that this Law was approved by both sides. Despite all the PN’s recent rhetoric that it was against the law, their whimpering can only be defined as sheer hypocrisy.
In these last three years, the PN has been guided by the idea that it needs to become more liberal in order to win the next election. However, it is now clear that it is in for a big surprise; the forces of liberalism are not strong enough to make the PN win. On the other hand, the PN appears more and more opportunistic and its Leader, weaker than ever.
There is no doubt that the PN is far more interested in joining the Liberals and the European Left in their attempts to eliminate Christianity from the European spectrum rather than abide by its core beliefs. The same party that ably fought colonialism is today run by a group of politicians who have embraced cultural colonialism. By accepting these new models, the PN is only re-affirming the political myth that it is a party with double standards, thus further tarnishing its image.
The PN joined Labour and agreed to remove the Vilification Law to please Obama’s America and the Liberals and the Left of the European Union. Furthermore, if there is an issue that goes to show the double standards of our political leaders, this is the case of the Koran at Mater Dei. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat considered this offence against the Koran as a serious matter, which only goes to substantiate that the Vilification Law was removed only to permit offending Roman Catholics.
Having realized their crass mistake, Nationalists are now rallying to oppose this new law tooth and nail. They are now attempting to recover lost ground by declaring that they were right in opposing the removal of vilification when, in reality, they supported it.
These double standards are dragging Europe, and those parties on the right, that embrace these values, into a crisis. Even Pope Francis has had the guts to disregard traditional cautiousness and speak up some political truths. He said that issues of “gender indoctrination” are being financed by the big powers through education. He did not mention names but he was clearly referring to the United States and Europe. Rightly so, instead of indoctrination, he spoke of cultural colonialism. The removal of the vilification law in Malta is part of this bigger picture of cultural colonialism.
Perhaps, one may disagree with the Pope because one believes that children have the right to choose their gender. I have no problem with this reasoning. But the problem here is that the United States and the European Union are pushing these new forms of gender colonialism in Europe and in those countries that are Christian. This explains the current attack on Russia, which has now re-embraced Christian Orthodoxy. Different is the issue in those countries where Islam is the official religion. In this case, not only are both Europe and America supporting the right of these Governments to impose Islamic traditions on their subjects but they also accept that these countries finance the take-over of Islam in Europe and America.
In Malta, we have a taste of these double standards and political hypocrisy. Those newspapers that are normally critical of the Church have now gone out in chorus to explain that the recent abhorrent act at Mater Dei is a criminal act according to European Law. This proves that the recent removal of our Vilification Law was only intended to hit the Roman Catholics in Malta. Should similar acts of vilification be committed against Muslims, Europe can still resort and enforce the 'hate' laws to defend them. I am not attacking the right to defend minorities but the appalling double standards. All religions should be viewed and treated equally by the State. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.
In the case of the incident of the Koran, we have had more than one lawyer stating that according to European Law, the perpetrators of this act can still be prosecuted for 'hate' crimes. With this same criterion, why did our Police not prosecute L-Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin for organizing a ham party in Msida, which was a direct provocative affront to Islam? If pork to-day constitutes an element of hatred, it should be abolished from Malta. This may sound ridiculous but in the UK even pigs are being removed from cribs for political correctness.
If we are to follow what these enlightened lawyers have stated, then even drinking whiskey or any other alcoholic drink while holding the Koran constitutes an act of hatred. Spilling alcohol on the Koran is another act of hatred such as putting pieces of ham on it. Therefore, in the name of European diversity let us now ban alcohol, as is the case in Saudi Arabia.
These warped elements of double standards only succeed in generating a greater intolerance particularly when expressed by politicians who claim they defend traditional values. It is these same politicians who are the cause of the advancement of the extreme-right. If the NP believes that by riding over the views and feelings of the traditional voter in order to support its liberal agenda and that of the Left, it is going to win the next election, it is in for another massive defeat.